Announcing: The Gold Line Eastside Safety Ride

Two weeks from today, November 13, a group of activists will pedal out from Union Station for points east to see for ourselves whether the soon-to-be-opened Gold Line East Side Extension passes our safety check. The extension will open two days later on the fifteenth. The ride is currently supported by L.A. Streetsblog, the Bus Bench and the L.A. Eastside Bike Club and will begin promptly at 7:30 A.M. We’ll cover the whole route of the extension, stopping at every stop to take pictures and discuss what we see. Later in the day I’ll post the "findings" of our ride here and I’m certain Browne will have plenty to add at the Bus Bench as well.

Anyone interested in doing some research before joining us on our rush-hour tour has plenty of ways to research the history of the project. Metro held a "press only" ride earlier this morning that I’m sure will get significant coverage; even if they gave their own bloggers a pre-preview. Many of the complaints mentioned by Supervisor Molina at last week’s Board Meeting can be found in this report, put together for Metro by independent consultants. Whether or not Molina’s attack had anything to do with the resignation of Rick Thorpe, one of Metro’s executives signaled out in her presentation, is up for debate. However, on his way out Thorpe responded to Molina’s concerns in this report.

Or, if you want to read all the official information, you can find the Metro website for the extension here.

The ride is free, but I recommend bringing your own refreshments and safety gear. If you’re with a group that would like to co-sponsor the event, drop me a line at damien@streetsblog.org.

Meanwhile, Neon Tommy reporter Christine Trang is making progress in her effort to obtain public records on the facts behind the Eastside Extension delays, including communications between Metro and Eastside Light Rail Transit Contractors.

Word On The Street

“With 6 to 7 million cars registered in LA County, it's really laughable to hear the supposedly most progressive thinkers around on the topic go for reducing the number of autos by a mere 100,000 by 2020! Why not 3.5 million? Cut the damn things in half.”